Invisible hours, informal work and deterioration – ‘we work more and get less paid’
Employees in Greece seem to reach the limits of professional exhaustion, according to the latest Eurostat data.
In 2023 our country presented the highest percentage of employees working as a rule on weekends, reaching 32.3%, significantly higher than the European average, which stands at 22.4%. Greece holds the first place among the 27 Member States of the European Union, with Italy following 30.9% and Cyprus with 26.4%. In contrast, in countries such as Lithuania (3%), Poland (4.5%) and Hungary (6.6%), weekends work are still rare and not the rule.
Excessive work on weekends reflects deeper social and economic problems. Overcoming the specified hours is often the result of economic pressure, with employees seeking complementary income to meet their needs. Income from five -day work is often not sufficient. Many times, additional work is done informally, without the corresponding fee provided for by law. The percentage of those working on weekends without additional payment remains unknown and is a field that requires further research.
The erosion of boundaries between personal and professional life intensifies mental health problems. Continuous work without sufficient rest negatively affects well -being, durability and balance between personal and professional obligations. The UNECE framework for employment quality points out that work at “informal hours” – such as night, evening and weekend – is closely related to overall working hours and balance of life. Prolonged work in such conditions is linked to sleeping problems, social isolation and is often not economically offset, especially in high -stress or precision occupations.
The phenomenon of weekend work is even more intense for self -employed. Eurostat records that almost 46.7% of those who are self -employed with staff and 37.8% without employees work on weekends. They are mainly professionals who are active in tourism, catering, small and medium -sized enterprises, private clinics and laboratories, where the weekend work is often forced to survive.
An analysis per professional group brings to light interesting data: The highest work rates on weekends in the EU are recorded in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and forestry (49.5%), sales and service employees (48.9%), as well as in basic professions (26.7%).
In Greece, the most intense weekend work in occupations such as waiters and cooks, taxi or truck drivers, retail workers and tourism businesses, as well as freelancers who serve customers outside regular hours.
The country also records one of the highest averages of weekly working time in the EU, 39.8 hours according to Eurostat, compared to 36.1 hours of the European average. This number includes neither overtime nor “invisible” hours of teleworking.
All of the above confirm something that for many workers is everyday: in Greece, especially in some sectors and especially during the summer months, the repo is luxury. Extensive work at the weekend is closely linked to the country’s productive model, turning to tourism and lack of labor rights.
